The bar has forever been raised for arrogance in Los Angeles and that’s saying something considering the egos that have called this town home.

IBEW Local 18 business manager Brian D’Arcy, the boss of the union that represents workers at the Department of Water and Power, has established a new benchmark for flipping off the public.

In April of 2005 the L.A. Weekly first raised questions about two mysterious non-profit organizations created by the L.A. City Council and co-administered by the DWP and Local 18. The Joint Safety Institute (JSI) and the Joint Training Institute (JTI) were chartered with the vague mission of improving relations between labor and management. Last September the L.A. Times revealed these two “trusts” have received more than $41 million in ratepayer money with no demonstrable results to show for it.

No results and zero public accountability. In fact, nobody has thus far been able or willing to explain what they even do.

But that was before City Controller Ron Galperin began poking his nose under the DWP’s tent. After a look at the JSI and JTI’s tax returns, Galperin says he has more questions than answers, including more than $600,000 worth of spending classified as “other.”

That’s a lot of other.

When asked to produce the complete financial records for these two publicly funded organizations, D’Arcy stalled for three months and then stunned a city nearly numb to arrogance by refusing to cooperate with Galperin’s audit.

Both Galperin and City Attorney Mike Feuer quickly condemned D’Arcy, with Galperin establishing a new deadline for early January and threatening subpoenas if the union fails to comply.

DWP General Manager Ron Nichols joined a chorus of DWP board members blasting D’Arcy, which is all well and good, but does little to explain why Nichols has also been unable or unwilling to explain what the public has gotten for their $41 million.

Nichols sits on the board of both the Joint Training Institute and the Joint Safety Institute. He has signed off on the transfer of millions of ratepayer dollars each year to D’Arcy’s stealth organizations yet seems to be in the dark about what they actually do.

It’s more than a little ironic the man who runs our lights is in the dark when it comes to two organizations he helps administer.

So far our quiet new mayor has remained quiet on this scandal.

Candidate Garcetti ran hard against the “cozy” relationship between Brian D’Arcy and his campaign rival, former City Controller Wendy Greuel. Rightly or wrongly the mayoral race last May became a virtual referendum on the DWP and its undue influence on City Hall. Garcetti won on a promise to rein in Local 18.

He made a good start this fall when he broke with the City Council and held out for additional concessions during contract talks with the union resulting in a better deal for ratepayers.

But the investigation into the JTI and JSI represents the first real test for Garcetti’s commitment to reform.

Will the mayor lead the charge against what appears to be a blatant ratepayer rip-off or will he let Galperin, Feuer and others to do the heavy lifting?

Is it possible this is all smoke and no fire? Sure. But so far nothing has been offered to the public to tamp down suspicions.

What’s in those financial records that made D’Arcy — a man who normally avoids publicity like vampires avoid garlic — willing to take the PR bloody nose by withholding them rather than handing them over for an audit?

The L.A. way is to stall for time until the public’s attention falls on something else. Then, as quietly as possible, a scapegoat or two can be eased out of town, usually with a platinum parachute, followed some time later with the boilerplate disclaimer, “The people who were responsible for fill-in-the-blank aren’t here anymore. No point in dredging up the past. Time to turn the page… Blah, blah, blah.”

If our city leaders fail to get to the bottom of this it will represent a blown opportunity to hit the reset button at City Hall, a lost opportunity to set Spring Street on a new course and regain a little of the trust forfeited after years of backroom deals and doubletalk.

Doug McIntyre’s column appears Sunday and Wednesday. He can be reached at: Doug@KABC.com.

Doug McIntyre is host of "McIntyre in the Morning" on 790 KABC in Los Angeles, heard weekdays from 5-10 a.m. He also hosted "Red Eye Radio" both locally and nationally and has been talking into a microphone for 20 years. He writes a weekly column for the Southern California News Group.